Five people have been arrested after a Chinese student was found beaten to death in his apartment near University of Southern California.

Xinran Ji, 24, an engineering student at USC, was attacked while walking near 29th Street and Orchard Avenue at 12.45pm in Los Angeles, California, last Thursday.

Los Angeles Police said Ji was attacked with an 'unknown blunt object' but managed to stumble back to his apartment block where he was found dead later that morning.

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Todd Dickey (centre), senior vice president for administration at the University of Southern California speaks at a press conference earlier in the week yesterday following the death of student Xinran Ji

Officers discovered Ji’s body around
7am on Thursday on the fourth floor of the City Park apartments in the
1200 block of W. 30th Street at 7:11 a.m. located north of the campus.

According to students, the victim’s apartment complex was popular among international students because it was considered to be safe.

USC's Dean of the Viterbi School of
Engineering Yannis Yortsos said in a statement: 'This news hits me very
deeply. On behalf of the School, my heartfelt condolences go out to the
family and friends of the victim.

Yortsos said university officials have spoken to Ji's family and had made arrangements for them to travel to Los Angeles.

Anyone with further information should contact the LAPD Criminal Gang and Homicide Division on: (213) 485-4341